Eureka daily sentinel. [volume] (Eureka, Nev.) 1871-1887, 1887-06-16
Death

-"
tratOr-FOund Dead I'm the Ditch
Works.
Yesterday morning our scitizens were
shocked with the sad intelligence Of the
death Of our Public Administrator, J.. @.
Palmer. by drowning, the particulars Of
which will be found in the evidence given
before a Coroner'si jury, which was i'm.
paneled for the purpose Of inquiriDg into
the cause of his death.
Mr.. Palmer came here from White Pine
after the great excitement In that locality
and has lived in Eureka ever since. He
was a carpenter by trade, and is said to
have erected the gallows frame that now
stands over the shaft Of the Richmond
mine. Although prosperous in earlier
days. he has plodded along for several
years, drifting from one employment to
another. For the last few years he has
been employed under G.. F. Bliss on the
Eureka Water Works, and was elected to
| the Office that he held at the time of his
death in November 1884. The deceased
was favorably known to almost everybody
in this locality. He leaves q brother, sis.
ter. son and daughter to mourn his sad
fate, all Of whom reside in the State of
New York. Mr.. Bliss telegraphed to them,
but had not received their reply up to the
hour that the telegraph Office had closed
last evening. The last seen Of the de-
ceased, alive was at 1870 p. NJ, Tues
day OF the south end of Main street,
near the place where he met his death.
We will draw the veil Of charity over his
shortcomings, as the condition he was
in at the time he met his fate was his mis-
fortune, not his habit.
The following ia the evidence brought
out before the Coroper's jury, Justice San
ders acting as ex-oficio Coroner:
Fred Miller, who looks after the horses
and stable Of the Richmond Company, was
the first witness called. He testified tina.
he was going after his can, when be saw q
man lying In the ditch. He did not
know il was Mr.. Palmer, but seeing Mr..
William McLaren passing, called 10 him,
and they both vent down and lifted his
head. He had a roll Of butter under his
right arm. He was lying fat on his face
in the stream Of water, and they picked him
up and laid him alongside of it. There
were two inches OF water flowing around
his head, which was damming the water.
He saw that he had a bruise on one side Of
bis head and another one on one of his
hands.
William McLaren was next called, and
testified that he knew Mr.. Palmer In his
lifetime, and saw by the registered list Of
1886 that he was born in the State OF New
York, and be was &C years DID. He saw
a man lying in the ditch this morning
dead. He identified the body as that Of ].
c.. Palmer's. The body was lying face
downward in the stream, the water COM
ing up TO his ears and covering his face.
He thought a man falling on his face and
lying in that position would be drowned.
He saw O bruise on the side Of his face
and another on the back Of one OF his
hands.
George f. Bliss testified, after corob-
Grating the evidence OF the first two wit
| nesses, that he saw deceased lying in the
ditch near the Richmond Company's fence,
close to their reservoir. He was lying on
| his back, with his hat over his face, when
he first saw him. He examined the
"apron " that is used to carry the water
over the water-pipes and saw the mark OF
where q foot had slipped off. He did not
think that a man falling off that embank-
ment would have become 80 insensible,
II not under the influence Of liquor. as not
to be able to recover himself. He judged
from the marks he saw On his body.
W. s. Beard, County Recorder, testified
that he saw deceased the night before his
death at the San Francisco Brewery. He
thought he was under the influence of
liquor, but had no conversation with him.
Deputy Sheriff George T. Rives was the
next and last witness called. He testified
that he was called about 6 O'Clock yester-
day morning by William McLaren to 60
as an officer and take charge of the
body Of j. @. Palmer. whom he had
found in the ditch. He went up and
found him beside the stream in the ditch;
was shown the position and manner in
which the body was first found, and judged
that having fallen six or seven feet from
the embankment above with his face lying
downward, he must have drowned. He
called Undertaken HUI, who took the
body to the undertaking rooms, where II
now lies.
The Coroner's jury found a verdict in
accordance with the evidence adduced.